HELL
by Hellweekly
Summary: Follow the adventures of Team HELL as they get way over their head in homework, multinational conspiracies, terrifying monsters, psychopathic killers and... love? HELL is an original story set within the RWBY universe. My goal is not to insert myself, but to tell a story that's just as good as the source material. Also, awesome fight scenes.
1. Chapter One—Pawns In an Emerald Forest

**_Chapter One—Pawns In an Emerald Forest_**

Today was the day she's waited for. Her massive sword blazed through the air like a rocket, trailing fire and smoke as it was propelled by jet engines towards its unfortunate target. The shadowy Beowolf didn't stand a chance. Her sword caught the beast under the arm and in a furry of jets and fire her sword was dragged upwards and beyond, leaving the grim monster in pieces.

The young woman holding the massive blade—almost as tall as she was—smiled darkly at the sight of her handiwork. Placing her blade against her shoulder she breathed in deeply. The smell of battle filled her nostrils; sweat, dirt, mangled fur and the aroma of exaggerated combat tingled her nose like an electric shock. Oh, what a scent! Her ears were blessed to hear an orchestra of metal on beast, the dancing footsteps of battle forming a rhythm that encouraged her own feet to dance and her arms to twirl about wielding Jetstream—her sword… the big massive jet-powered sword she held against her shoulder—and join them in the frenzy.

Even the echoing sounds from a Laughter didn't shatter her euphoric thoughts. The small laughing ape jumped at her from up high in the trees, its red eyes gleaming like glowing red dust and his mask elaborately decorated with eyes and mocking lips. But this Grimm found no such luck with Hazel. In a flash her sword was ripping through the air, trailing blue fury. It collided with the laughing Grimm and sent it across the clearing in two distinct pieces.

Hazel breathed in deeply again, smiling. She was in total control.

"What are you doing?!" Demanded a young woman with fiery red hair and eyes more akin to emeralds than the forest, "If we don't get those pieces we'll never get to be huntresses! We need to get going, the soon the better if you ask me."

"Yeah, well no one asked you, Lillian." Hazel said under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"I said that I didn't ask you!" She repeated herself, not afraid to say what was on her mind, "I don't need you to tell me what to do." It was the truth after all.

"If either of you ladies wouldn't mind…" Lucas grunted, his armored fists locked with the claws of a might dark bear, "If you two start arguing again it's going to be '_unbearable'_."

Before Hazel could even roll her eyes at that god awful pun something struck the Ursa from behind. The attack came out of nowhere and was so fast it left only an afterimage of a snow white blade slicing the bear's spine. She searched the trees for Edwin, but he had already fallen back beyond the trees. It was incredible how quickly and silently he could move.

Lucas looked around for Edwin. His mouth was gaunt with disappointment, "… I wanted to be the one to do that…"

"To bad." A small voice said from behind Hazel. It was Edwin. Neither Hazel nor Lillian even realized he was there until he spoke.

"Looks like it's already over."

"Yeah." Hazel went the center of the clearing to observe the fallen Grimm beasts. There were dozens of Beowolves and Laughters scattered around, all in little bits and bobs but neither Hazel or Edwin or Lucas or Lillian had a scratch on themselves. It was almost too easy.

"We'll this is disappointing."

"What is?"

"This entire _quest_. When Professor Ozpin said we needed collect a relic I just thought it was going to be much more dangerous here… I thought there were going to be traps and monsters the size of buildings and dust magic and—and—I don't know, just more than this! Even when they launched us from the cliff was simple."

"Says you." Lucas objected, "You were able to fly down with that sword. I had to fall. Hard." He rubbed his bruised arm gingerly as he said that last part.

"I just thought Beacon was supposed to be different than Signal or Transmit."

Everyone was silent, including Edwin who's _always_ quite. In the aftermath of the battle the four of them stood tall in the center of the clearing.

"Listen." Hazel said, her voice demanded to be heard, "I don't know anything about you more than your names and that you can put up a hell of a fight. I've never seen you in my life before now but from the moment our eyes met we became a team. And as a team I can promise you—we're going to be the first to get that relic, and we're going to be the first to get out of this forest. Nothing is going to stand in our way."

Lillian crossed her arms, "Who elected you to be our leader?"

Hazel put away her sword, "No one, but if you have a problem with it then do something about it."

Lillian raised her hands and cocked a smile, "I have no problems, no ma'am."

"Good. I'm Hazel Akharota by the way. I look forward to fighting with you—all of you."

The fiery haired girl with the emerald eyes extended her hand forward, "I'm Lillian Grant."

"Lucas Ero, at your service."

"Edwin Olivarum."

Once the last name was pulled forth a dreadful sound emerged from beyond the trees. The sound of crows and flapping wings. Hundreds of flapping wings. Behind every leaf was a pair of yellow glowing eyes, and below the branches black feathers fluttered down aimlessly from above.

Everyone looked to each other, "Well, I guess that's our cue to _get the hell out of here_!"

Pouring from the trees came dozens of ink black Cravens, their caws ringing out at them like fingernails on a chalkboard. A smile dashed across Hazel's lips, stretching from ear to ear. Drawing her sword Jetstream she pointed it at the flock of inky missiles lobbing themselves towards the four of them.

"Looks like we're going to have to fight…"


	2. Chapter Two—The Black Queen

The Cravens swarmed them from all directions. It was a cloud of dark feathers engulfing them, a flurry of beaks, and a storm talons cutting at them, tearing their clothes and shredding their skin. So numerous were the Cravens that Hazel could see nothing but their flashing black bodies as they flickered in and out of the light, but that was okay. She didn't need to see in order to fight—she had been taught that much at Transmit… but would it be enough? She winced as one cut against her shoulders leaving an opening for another to tear at her sleeves and blooding her wrist.

_Damn these birds._

How many fell by her sword? Twenty, maybe thirty in all. Yet they kept coming. One would be sliced or set aflame by Jetstream and several more would swarm at her, blinding her with sweeping talons and inky feathers raining down hiding their allies. Grunting in pain as one of them nicked her forehead she felt a small trickle of warmth seeping from her skin and down her nose. If they didn't break the Cravens formation they would be slowly but surely picked apart. How long until someone laid down their weapon in exhaustion or in a moment of pain? All in all this wasn't a fight about swords or beaks, it was persistence verses stamina.

… But what if they had more firepower? If they couldn't outlast the Cravens, what if they could kill them quicker than they appeared? Hazel smiled, not only did her sword have power, but it had fire as well. Flicking the control wheel under the guard up to its maximum she immediately stabbed her massive sword into the ground.

Liquid orange flames poured from the jets in the blade, dousing the black birds with brilliant hues of burning red and searing yellow. The constant screeches of the Craven turned to whimpers as they birds flocked in all directions. Their feathered burnt to a crisp and they fell from the skies, others in panic collided with trees with a _thump_ before falling to the earth.

The chaos of the Cravens were over. A soft hand rested against her shoulder and Hazel could feel the smiles and relief from the others. She proudly turned to her comrades and found them bloodied, scratched yet happy. Not only did their lips form smiles, but their eyes were filled with bright light as they looked at her.

She had done it. Well of course she had done it. It was the leader's responsibility to pull a miracle out of their ass in times of need, wasn't it? What would she be to them if they had been picked to the bone by those carrion-starved birds?

"That was incredible!" Lillian exclaimed, she extended her arms and her grappling daggers reeled back to their various hidden locations. Her nose had a small scuff on it, but other than that and her torn collar she was unharmed.

"No, it wasn't really anything special." She said with false modesty, savoring the praise.

Lucas scoffed at her, "It really wasn't. If I had thought about it I could have done the same thing." He tapped his left gauntlet, clenching it into a fist. A dozen barrels extend out around his fist so it looked like a Gatling gun. "Just a few bursts from this and they would have plenty of pretty holes poked in them."

"But you didn't." Edwin said softly, "By time you had we would've been dead."

"What did you say?" Lucas turned to Edwin, flexed and gave him an intimidating look.

Edwin stepped away but Lucas wasn't satisfied by his flinch. One of the last routed birds fluttered by his head and without even looking he punched it, leaving only a puff of feathers.

"Well, at least he can say he was the first to punch a bird… I didn't think fighting was effective against flying."

Lucas began to walk away, shaking his head.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to find a new group."

"That's not how it works!" Hazel pointed out, "We're a team. Whether you like it or not. We're a team and we're seeing this though to the end."

"I'm not appreciated here. I'm leaving. And there's nothing you can say to stop me."

_Was that a challenge? She wanted to win this more than she disliked his attitude._

"You are appreciated though! You have a freaking minigun in your arm, and a cannon in your other one. I punched a tree down in order to slow down, I know I watched. You're strong Lucas, and we're going to need all the strength we can get if we want to come out on top. I don't care what you think of me, or of anyone else in this group but I care that we win. I care that I win. You should too, because without us you don't have a snowballs chance in hell. And without you… neither do we…"

"You don't know that. You don't know me."

"Then give us the opportunity to. It's been ten minutes since we're all together. You're not giving us a chance."

Lucas was silent for a good several seconds before he said, "Fine. You know what, fine. I'll stay—fine, ok you win I'll stay. But you can't blame me if I want to leave after this little _test_ is over. I'm talking to Professor Ozpin after this whether you like it or not."

Hazel smiled, if that was the best they could hope for she'll take it. She wasn't going to let him, or anyone else in the group hold her back. This was the school her mother had made her name at, and she intended to do the same—but only better.

"We're a team!" She yelled, "And nothing is going to stop us now."

There was a loud screech overhead and everyone froze. Oh no, was it another flock? Looking up she could see a faint black outline like a crow flying away from the. It wasn't a Craven. Something else flew overhead. It was big, black and furious. But it was clear to her wherever that thing was flying, it was heading the same way they needed to go.

If that was their next challenge before they got the relic… so be it. She was ready.


	3. Chapter Three—White Knight and the Black

Her small team ran past trees on their way to the center of the forest, speeding past bushes, leaping and diving out the way of oncoming claws from large cat-like creatures, evading small screeching bats and jumping over the head of a red-headed girl with a huge scythe and her team. Hazel watched the four girls be joined by another team, the eight of the smiling as if they had achieved the ultimate victory, high off their successes and joined together by blood as they risked their lives in combat.

Was there nothing sweeter than the smile of comrades after a mission well done? If there was, Hazel didn't know what it was, but she was contempt. She was positive that she would be the one to lead her comrades to an even greater success, she'd be the one everyone admired and everyone looked up to. Just like her father.

"Looks like someone beat us to the end." Lillian noted, her green eyes flashing faster than the green leaves she leapt from tree trunk to tree trunk. Hazel gripped her sword tightly and dug her feet against the wide blade, riding Jetstream like a surfboard and leaving embers in her wake. Looking behind her she saw the red-hooded girl disappearing into the blue flame of her sword. The girl looked back at Hazel and smiled before disappearing into rose-petals.

"It doesn't matter if we're first, just so long as we're not last."

"We're not second either." Edwin said softly, he was suddenly next to them running in perfect sync. Just a few seconds ago he was nearly ten meters ahead of them and literally trailing dust.

"Then we'll be third." Said Hazel, "It won't make a difference."

Lucas had nothing to add, he was falling behind them. He wasn't fast like Edwin, he didn't have grappling daggers like Lillian did that let her swing from tree to tree, and he couldn't ride his weapon like Hazel could. Maybe it would have been better if he had left she wondered. If he couldn't keep up he was no use to her, or the rest. As cruel as that sounded the only thing that mattered was their success in their mission and nothing more. Maybe that ruby-rose girl would have been a better fit than him.

Lucas heaved words from his mouth, he was forced to catch his breath with every word, "Hey, guys!" He wheezed, "Can you please wait up? I can't go as fast as you."

Lillian looked at Hazel. "Try to catch up." Hazel said.

"Are you crazy?"

"If you can't keep up than guard our rear. You can manage that much, right?"

The athletic Lucas groaned and bared his teeth like he was more animal than man. Maybe he was. He muttered under his breath but continued to try to keep pace.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Positive. Besides, we have Edwin being our vanguard. It's not like I'm picking on him." Lillian just shot hard scourging gazes at her, "Oh don't give me that! What am I supposed to do?"

Hazel's arms were crossed, her full lips were twisted into a upside-down crescent and her shimmeringly brilliant aqua eyes were furiously fixed at the unwanted ride grasping onto the hilt of her Jetstream. Jetstream didn't mind, even welcoming another touch besides her master, but her master _did_ mind. She minded very much.

"Don't get to comfortable down there. You're still the rear guard, not some hitchhiker on his way to Fort Castle."

"Trust me, I'm plenty not comfortable down here." He yawned, "Hey, you have any snacks or anything on this thing? Don't I get some inflight peanuts or something?"

"You can get an inflight kick in the hindquarters if you're not careful. Don't make me turn this thing around."

"Hmmm," Lucas scratched his chin considerately, "We might not make it in time if you did that. Who knows, those two teams we saw earlier might have taken all the relics, there might not be any left."

"Don't talk that way, Lucas. I'm sure there are some left, Hazel, don't worry."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll be one left." He smiled.

"We're not going to be last god damn it! We've got to be better than at least one team, just one that's all I care about."

Lillian's eyes were full of laughter, her long hair waved behind her like red fire, and her well-endowed figure gracefully swam though the air supported by her plenty grappling daggers. Edwin was far ahead of them but she could tell he was eavesdropping and controlling his laughter. Hazel smiled, she was going to look forward to working with everyone. And yes, even Lucas… maybe…

She looked at the trees to her side as they flung themselves down the leafy tunnel towards the center. It was then when she saw him. A figure drenched in black and trimmed in asymmetrical red squares, black robes, black gloves, black mask and glowing black eyes. A needle of fear pricked her finger and she gasped, blinking in surprise but in the time she took to blink he was gone and they were several trees further.

"I think we're here." Edwin returned to them, calling up to them with his low spoken voice, "I saw some ruins ahead in the clearing just ahead. I think that's it."

"Is it a temple?"

Edwin shook his head, "I saw a pavilion in the distance, and a series of chest pieces arranged in a half circle. A few seem to have been taken."

"That doesn't sound hard. I thought they would be hidden underground and we'd be chased by boulders if we tried to take the relic." Lillian turned to Hazel, smiling brighter than the sun, "We're not last after all." But Hazel was staring longingly into the trees. Who was that man she had seen?

The clearing was a mess. Trees were splintered and strewn around, an Ursa was dead next to the tree lines, and the grass was eaten up by footsteps big and small. The a small platform was raised in the center of the clearing and behind it was a tower connected by a broken bridge scattered with feathers and the broken body of a Death Stalker.

"Quite the battle was fought here." Edwin pushed his hand against the Ursa, "It's still warm—but definitely dead."

Lucas whistled like he was looking at a beautiful woman, who knows, between Lillian and herself he might have been, that pervert, "I wish I could have seen what took place here. I've never seen a Death Stalker outside of my textbook at Signal. And theses feathers! Are these Nevermore feathers? Oh my god, my mom and dad have one of these framed in our house. Would you mind if I took one? This is so cool."

"You sound like a teenage girl talking about the hottest pop singer." Hazel said clasping him on the shoulder.

"Are you kidding me? This is what Hunters dream of! This stupid Ursa has nothing on Death Stalkers and Nevermores." He kicked the Ursa as he said that, "And besides, the Nevermore is kind of like my families crest."

"If you're serious about it then take as many as you want. You don't need to ask me for something like that." Hazel stepped back and leaned against a tree, her brown skin glowing in the shafts of pale light, "Unless you think I'm your mommy."

"Hey, my mom was a great Huntress. Don't drag her into this."

"The Nevermore means a lot to you, so take some feathers. Maybe they'll let you fly back without my help."

"Very funny." Lucas began pulling the feathers from the ground, there were dozens stabbed into the earth like spears. It was actually pretty incredible to think a bird was capable of such things. But it was a Grimm after all. "Hey Edwin, help me with this."

Hazel left them be and walked up to the half circle. Two pieces were missing, a White Knight and a White Rook. Lillian was by her side.

"What one should we take?"

"Hmmm."

Hazel looked at each one before finally plucking up the Black Queen. She raised the piece to the sun, eyeing it against the light and smiling, flushed with the feeling of success. They had done it.

"We're all just players and pieces."

Hazel shook her head, "Only if we let ourselves be. We're more than just pieces, and if that were true, then why are there no pawns?"

"I'm not going to lie, I thought there was going to be a final boss or something in our way when we got here."

"I was too. I guess Team "RWBY" cleared out the ones we would have encountered. There is no final fight after all."

As she said that, something massive crashed to the ground. It was like God had taken a hammer to the Earth and was smashing it.

_Crash!_

Again, the earth shook.

_Crash!_

Stones from the tower and broken bridge were pried loose and fell.

_Crash!_

A massive shadow fell on the trees from behind the mountain the tower was perched. The shadow rolled across the trees unopposed. It drew nearer, and nearer, and nearer…


	4. Chapter Four—Attack on Horton!

**_Chapter Four—Attack on Horton!_**

_Crash_!

Mortar crumbled and stones fell loose from their arches and ruins. Falling to the ground they clattered, smacking on top of each other and reverberating the cries of stone-on-stone.

_Crash, Crash_!

Two mighty plumes of dust shot into the sky from the edge of the mountain. An archway collapsed in on itself, the sound of it crashing into the forest floor mixed with the sound of massive footsteps heading towards them.

Crash, Crash, Crash!

Hazel, Edwin, Lucas and Lillian looked up at the mountain to see a massive shadow looming forward, the shadow was longer than an airship and it had a set of massive tusks protruding from its mouth. Every thunderous step it took brought it closer to the light and further way from the shadow… every step it took brought it way from the mountain and closer to them… In all her life Hazel had never heard of such a massive Grimm. Her blood ran icy cold and the sweat down her back seemed to freeze. Yet she was the only one who wasn't afraid.

"What the hell is that thing?" Lucas whispered, he clutched his hand to stop it from shaking.

"It's a Horton." An empty voice recited, "It's the last of its kind." Hazel didn't know this voice and searched around for its speaker but found no one but her group. Could it be _him_? The one she saw earlier in the trees?

She watched as the monster reviled itself, striking the light. For its long mouth came a roar like none other. A piercing howl so horrifying it turned the wind into a living thing and sent it running towards the forest.

"We need to get out of here, now!" Lucas yelled and grabbed her hand to drag her away. Hazel fought his tug and pushed herself away from him, her eyes never leaving the monsters ragged gray skin or his several glowing red eyes. Her eyes were fixed.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Are you crazy? I mean, I know you are but we have to get out of here. We can't be anywhere near that thing."

"Why not?"

"_Why not_? Are you serious, are you actually being serious right now? T-that thing will kill us, I mean **kill**us. I've never seen a Grimm that big before, there's no way we can do anything about it, there's nothing we can do! Let's just hope that no other team gets left in that monsters wake."

"If you won't, then I will." She said grinning greedily and pointing Jetstream at the rampaging beast, "Can you imagine what would happen if we took that thing down? We'd be heroes. We'd be famous. I might be able to become a Huntress right here and now and I won't have to waste my time at Beacon, I won't have to follow the path he set for me." Grabbing Lucas she dragged him towards her, "Don't you see, don't you see? If we can take that thing down… if we can do it, like really, properly defeat that thing… we'll be gods! We'll be gods among mortal men. Renowned Hunters and Huntresses; they'll add our names to the history books and from now till the end of time people will learn about us and know what we did and who we are. I'll be remembered more than he ever will, you'll get what you want and everyone will get what they want. It's a win-win situation." She stared at him intensely, practically frothing at the thought, "The power that will come from defeating that Horton. I can hardly imagine it."

Lucas shook his head and pulled away, "No, you're crazy, you're insane!" He turned back towards the others who waited by the trees and then turned back to her, "N-o, no, no, no. We're leaving right now. I don't care for your delusions of power and stupid grandiose. I should have left back in the forest, maybe I would be gone by now."

Hazel pointed to the fallen pieces, "Do you see any other teams coming out to grab any pieces? If you had turned tail and ran you wouldn't be as far as you are now. I don't care what you think of me, I only care that we've gotten this far—and as far as I'm concerned that just proves that you should be here with me instead of out there running like a coward!"

Lucas grabbed her by the collar with his powerful arms and lifted her off her feet, "Don't you **dare**call me that. You don't know me, you don't know what I've been though. Just because I'm not crazy suicidal like you doesn't mean I have no honor. Besides, what honor is there in insanity? When have the soldiers who rushed in headlong into death been remembered and glorified? It's the people like you who don't last, and it's the people like me that do. After we get back to Beacon I'm transferring to another team."

Angry, Hazel bit his hand and kicked him in the gut on her way down, "The run. I'm going after _that_ thing, and I'm not leaving until I've killed it."

She turned around, expecting to see the looming monster towering over her… but she saw nothing. Hundreds of trees were crushed and broken in the forest, and dust clouds still bellowed like the earth had been ripped apart by cannon fire but the Horton was nowhere to be found. It was gone.

Hazel turned around in a circle and when she came to she found the world was still spinning. This wasn't possible, a monster like that doesn't just vanish. There had to be something, some thundering footsteps, roars in the distance, anything! But there was nothing. It was gone.

"Hazel!"

It was too late, with her sword at her back she turned its jets up to max and launched herself over the ruins and towards the crushed forest. A foul wind blew against her but she was relentless and pushed on until she had gotten to the clearing the Horton had created. She stood amongst the splinters and started into the bleak sky. She climbed massive indents in the ground—the footprints of the Horton—and made her way to the ravine. Looking down into the abyss she saw the rocks coated in blood, and at the bottom laid the crumbled and utterly eviscerated corpse of the Horton. It was a disgusting wall of flesh now, leaching fiery red into the waters that brushed against it.

Her eyes were as wide as the moon, her entire body was racked with a strange shaking like an earthquake had hit her and only her. Jetstream falling from her hand she fell to her knees and hunched over the ravine. Feeling sick, she vomited.

"Hazel Akharota, Edwin Olivarum, Lillian Grant, Lucas Ero; the four of you retrieved the Black Queen piece, so from this day forward you will work together as Team Hell, and you're leader will be: Hazel Akharota." Professor Ozpin smiled, and tapped his cane on the stage and the next set of names were prepared to be called, "Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester—"

Hazel didn't even pay attention to the names that were called after hers. She stared at her feet the entire time, still in shock and now in disbelief. Tugging at her hair she groaned, what had come over me? Maybe she wasn't fit to be a leader after all, seeing how she would have led her team to the slaughter just like that for her own glory and for her own ends.

Lucas stood beside her, he was colder than a sculpture of ice and to her he might as well be.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered.

"You're what?"

"I'm sorry, OK? I didn't know what came over me, I was just ecstatic because we had the pieces and we were a team, and we were kicking ass I guess I just thought we could do anything—even taking on a Horton. It was stupid of me, I shouldn't be the leader of this team." She couldn't even look him in the eyes, "You'll stay, won't you? I'd understand if you didn't want to, but there had to be a voice of reason somewhere in this group."

"I'm a voice of reason?" Lucas smiled.

"And I'm not?" Lillian huffed and puffed, but it was hard for her to be intimidating being so short in comparison to Hazel. She didn't look the type to be scary, Hazel thought she was to pretty for that.

Hazel gave a faint blush and smile, "You heard me, I assume?"

"I heard you too." Edwin said.

"And me too." A yellow-haired boy said, putting his arm around Hazel he smiled, "You know if you need help being a leader there are plenty of things I can _teach_ you. If you catch my drift. I'm the leader of my own team, I don't know if you've heard of us, Team JNPR—we're pretty great. I'm sure you'll have lots of questions for me."

Hazel shot him a puzzled look, "Who are you?"

"I'm… Jaune d'Arc… the one and only? You haven't heard of me or my exploits?"

Everyone in Team Hell shook their heads, "Nope."

Almost in tears the poor boy was quick to leave back to his group. Well that was weird.

"Ignore him." She said, "So, Lucas, will you stay?"

He scratched his chin, "I'll have to think about it. I mean, I would feel pretty bad if you didn't have a voice of reason to guide you through the insanity."

"Oh please, I'm not that crazy."

"You kind of are."

"Jaune!"

"Ah, leaving, leaving!"

From there on, they weren't Hazel and Edwin, Lucas and Lillian—they were Team HELL. But little could they imagine what their first semester at Beacon would be like…


End file.
